News and analysis of critical issues in homeland security

November 9, 2007

The Pelindaba nuclear facility in South Africa was the target of an armed assault yesterday. Nevermind the talk of flying airplanes into reactors, this is a real world case wherein armed men were able to penetrate a series of security measures and actually enter the control room. This article was sent in by reader Steve Bogden.

The NRC explains its position on protecting nuclear facilities here with its three phase plan that was to be completed by now. I do not know where this effort stands.

In the past, security measures known as â€œbuffersâ€ or â€œlayersâ€ were considered the best way to restrict unauthorized access to such crucial infrastructure as a nuclear power plantâ€™s control panel. Earlier this month, a man was discovered to be bringing a pipe bomb into a nuclear plant in Arizona â€“ the largest one in the country in fact.Â If the perpetrators of the break-in at Pelindaba had been armed with such a bomb, it is doubtful that anyÂ existing buffers would have stopped a terrible outcome.

‘I could not let anything like that happen’
Meiring, who was working nightshift, is the supervisor of the control room.

Gerber said he kept Meiring company. “I do not like it when she is at work at night and I go with her to keep her company and ensure that she is safe,” he said.

Describing the attack Gerber said they were inside the electronically sealed control room when they heard a loud bang.

They then spotted the gunmen coming into the facility’s eastern block.

It is believed that the attackers gained access to the building by using a ladder from Pelindaba’s fire brigade and scaling a wall.

The men are thought to have forced open a window by pulling out several louvers.

Pushing Meiring underneath a desk, Gerber attacked two of the gunmen as they forced their way into the control room and ran straight for the control panel.

“I did not know what they were going to do. I just kept on hitting them even when one of them attacked me with a screwdriver.

“I knew that if I stopped they would attack Ria or do something to the panel.

“I could not let anything like that happen,” he said.

Unbeknownst to Gerber one of the robbers had shot him in the chest as he fought them off.

The bullet narrowly missed his heart breaking a rib before puncturing his lung. Doctors said the bullet missed his spine by 2cm.

Gerber, who at one stage thought he was going to die, said he had been very scared.

“The facility is meant to be safe. There are security guards, electric fences and security control points. These things are not meant to happen,” he said.

Necsa spokesperson Chantal Janneker confirmed the attack.

She declined to say how the gunmen had gained access to the facility or whether they had stolen anything.

Janneker said Necsa was conducting an internal investigation into the attack.

Once the police investigation was complete Necsa would divulge what happened, she said.

Later in the afternoon, Pretoria News was phoned by a man identifying himself as a Necsa legal adviser, saying the newspaper will be breaching the National Keypoints Act by publishing the story.

He said that Necsa may seek a court order preventing dissemination of the story.

He claimed that the interview with Gerber was “unethical” as “he was under sedation and thus incoherent” when it was conducted.

Pretoria News sought and was granted permission to interview Gerber, by hospital management, and Gerber himself. While he was obviously in pain, he appeared coherent and made sense throughout the interview.

His recall of the events was sequential and to the point. He also agreed to have his picture taken in his hospital bed.

North West police spokesperson Superintendent Louis Jacobs said that no arrests had been made.

“A case of armed robbery and attempted murder are being investigated,” he said.

just an fyi, out here in phoenix, we’ve got the palo verde reactors locked up tight. last week, a guy who had a pipe bomb in his truck (beleived to be planted by someone else) didn’t make it anywhere near the inside of the facility. also of note, i know they’ve installed the same sort of mini-guns that they put on the sides of navy ships to shoot down incoming missiles at a number of nuclear facilities.

There is also a nuclear smuggling case that started in South African courts the same day as the reported attack. Any guess where the high speed switches allegedly sent to Pakistan might have come from?